horadam.bsky.social
Mostly energy, supply chains, and transportation. Toto enthusiast. Still a MENA student at heart.
Onward, Rocinante!
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Would have been nice to see this lobbying blitz on 45X start, I dunno, several months ago. But better late than never I suppose.
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And dealers likely won't go out of their way to reorient deal structures towards higher interest payments. Unlike homes with mortgages, cars are rapidly depreciating assets.
The median deduction will likely be $2k-3k, and buyers may still find themselves stretched on monthly payments.
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Come on
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None of those copies of the Power Broker are dogeared past page 50
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They were published around the same time. The autobiography definitely seems to be the one that endured.
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Anyhow, here’s the book. Looks to be long out of print (and frankly, it’s not amazing), but I’m sure folks can find it used if they look for it.
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See the rest of my thread 😉
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The investments OEMs have been making on batteries and electric drivetrains, as well as their more recent seriousness on EV charging infrastructure, ensures they’ll be able to pivot when they run out of runway in the current paradigm.
The correction will be painful, but it’s not hopeless.
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While we’re tinkering at the edges trying to find ways to keep people buying oversized trucks and producing huge margins for the OEMs, I suspect the gravitational forces of higher interest rates, tariffs (particularly on aluminum + steel), and insurance costs are going to drag down those segments.
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Today’s parallels are clear. Detroit kicks and screams about EPA regs and California’s EV mandate, but these are the policies that have dragged them forward on global competitiveness.
It ensures that, if we are moving into a second “Malaise,” there’s a path to recovery vs. an insurmountable climb.
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But also notable, Iacocca used his megaphone to complain about EPA regs and Volcker’s interest rate policies…all while proactively restructuring his business to adapt.
It put Detroit - and Chrysler in particular - better positioned to compete with the onslaught of Japanese competition.
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Notably, Iacocca had long been an advocate for smaller, sleeker vehicles akin to Europe’s makes. That’s how he won big for Ford with the Mustang and then the Maverick. AMC offered some domestic pressure in the 60s-70s as well.
Chrysler was the Detroit laggard until he took the rein there.
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New EPA regs on pollution controls were expensive to meet; the oil shocks obviously bit hard, with consumer priorities whiplashing from glitz to value.
Ballooning interest rates in the Volcker era were the coup de grace for the status quo.
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US OEMs spent much of the 1970s coasting, even as macro headwinds mounted. By decade's end, they were hemorrhaging cash and Chrysler would’ve gone under without a $1.5B federal bailout.
Everyone knows the story of “fuel-efficient imports ate Detroit's lunch,” but the full story is more complex.
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Happenstance.
Have never owned a Honda and had less media exposure to the Prologue than the GM models. So didn’t even consider it against the Chevys and plug-in alternatives from Hyundai, Ford, and Toyota.
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Yes. It’s all the GM Ultium platform, though the Prologue is actually the body as Chevy’s EV Blazer
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The industry has ultimately done itself a disservice by focusing excessively on permitting, and feigning commercial financing opportunities absent steep federal support.
It’s okay to admit you need help! We’re up against a predatory state actor, and only Western governments can counter them.
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But most of these developers do not see themselves as lifetime stewards of a mining or refining project.
And they know how to develop/fundraise for conventional mine projects.
Which means promoting bogus investor returns on a rapid timescale. Not a long-term collaborative effort w/ government.
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Policymakers are not project finance experts. They don’t inherently understand capital formation. Industry groups similarly don’t have these experts on staff.
But they all understand (to varying degrees) regulatory law and how to align with ideological agendas.
Regulation is an easy policy win.
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How can you call critical minerals a national and economic security priority and then cripple the most direct subsidy intended to stimulate domestic projects?
I suspect it’s because the mining lobby has spent years convincing policymakers the problem is permitting and labor/environmental regs.